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It seems that the motives of those in Hong Kong who are leading the British passport campaign are varied: it has to be said, however, that some of the noisier clamour emanates from those who have already through marriage secured their own right to a British passport and one senses that their campaign is based partly on feelings of guilt. Behind all this is the continuing assumption that Hong Kong's future security is somehow dependent on solutions coming from London, rather than from Beijing. Partly due to our own failure
for well-understood and
and historic reasons to provide a democratic framework in Hong Kong, there is an
an almost total absence of responsible political leadership in the colony. People there have got to learn that their future security depends not on London, but on Beijing. Whilst many of the leading businessmen have come to terms with the situation, it seems that the local political leaders are unwilling or incapable of facing up to this essential reality.
Two aspects of the 'Passport' policy need to be examined: firstly, there is the question of whether or not the steady emigration of people from Hong Kong is more, or less, damaging than the risk of a sudden major exodus after 1997.
Secondly,
we have to examine the effect of the interpretation of HMG's proposals on the Chinese government and thus on its assessment of our commitment to the '84 Agreement.
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On the first point, it is surely at least arguable that steady migration however regrettable provides a more stable environment in which to re-train and re-fill positions affected than would be the case should, post-1997, those with British passport rights suddenly decide that the time had come for them to leave. Knowing the mercurial pattern of behaviour in
in Hong Kong, it would only need a handful to avail themselves of their right to come to Britain, for a trickle to turn into a flood. The effect upon Hong Kong of such an eventuality would surely be far worse than any amount of steady erosion over the next eight years. Nowhere have I heard this aspect of the problem even discussed.
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Further and writing as one who supported the then Conservative government's decision on the Ugandan Asians it has be argued that nobody asked Hong Kong's present citizens to go there in the first place and no-one is asking them to leave now. They chose to go for a variety of reasons and those who bothered to enquire would have known that change was inevitable in 1997.
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